Owen Hargreaves shocked by Manchester United's struggles in Porto draw - 'Even for United, it was ridiculous'
Published 03/10/2024 at 23:42 GMT+1
The pressure is on Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag after the Red Devils let a two-goal lead slip against Porto in the UEFA Europa League. United eventually had to settle for a 3-3 draw, with defender Harry Maguire coming off the bench to rescue a point for his side. TNT Sports pundit Owen Hargreaves described United's performance as "ridiculous" after the match.
'Even for United it was ridiculous' - Hargreaves says questions remain after 'crazy' game
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TNT Sports pundit Owen Hargreaves described Manchester United's performance in their 3-3 draw against Porto in the UEFA Europa League as “ridiculous”.
The Red Devils took a 2-0 lead thanks to goals from Marcus Rashford and Rasmus Hojlund, but Pepe and Samu Omorodion scored to get the Portuguese giants back into the contest.
Omorodion gave Porto the lead for the first time in the match in the 50th minute, and things went from bad to worse for Erik ten Hag when Bruno Fernandes saw red for a second bookable offence.
Harry Maguire spared Ten Hag's blushes with a stoppage-time header into the bottom left corner, but Hargreaves criticised United for letting their opponents back into the game.
"There was a lot going on in the game, the first 20 minutes were really good and really efficient, but the 20 minutes after that were disappointing," he said.
"There were too many holes defensively, they did not stop any crosses, and to go 3-2 down having been 2-0 up, even for United, it was ridiculous really.
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'There are a lot of issues' - Hargreaves on Ten Hag's 'mess' at United
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"Even with 10 men they nicked the point, but still, I think there will be a lot of question marks and a lot of frustrations with that.
"The start was so good, but then the middle part of the game was crazy, and then they found a way to fight back.
"Basically, that is what it has been like for a couple of years, we have seen it again tonight."
United were hoping for a reaction after falling to a 3-0 defeat against Tottenham in the Premier League on Sunday.
They made a perfect start in Portugal, and Hargreaves believes nobody could have predicted that they would allow Porto back into the match.
"After 20 minutes you would say, wow, that's perfect," he said.
"Brilliant, and he [Marcus Rashford] is a really positive runner, there were so many positives from the first 20 minutes.
"You could never have anticipated that they would throw that game away.
"In the first 20 minutes they were clinical in front of goal, we have said they have wasted chances, but they did not do that today.
"But then, defensively, there were so many gaps."
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Highlights: Maguire saves shambolic United with dramatic late equaliser
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Maguire and Jonny Evans were brought on for Matthijs de Ligt and Lisandro Martinez in the 78th minute with United 3-2 down.
Karen Carney believes United's first-choice centre-back partnership of De Ligt and Martinez performed poorly at Estadio Do Dragao.
"I don't know what they are doing, they are not a partnership," she added.
"They are all over the shop, and they were all over the gaff tonight.
"I am not surprised that in the end, he brought the two other centre-backs on, but wow.
"They were really, really poor tonight and then Casemiro as well."
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